[EINSTEIN, Albert (1879-1955)].

[EINSTEIN, Albert (1879-1955)].

A cardigan of grey cashmere, labelled 'Pure cashmere / made in Scotland for / A. Sulka & Company / 66: Fifth Ave., New York', size label '42' on inside hem (the right elbow neatly darned, the left elbow worn through, a number of moth holes throughout).

Provenance: By descent in direct line from Albert Einstein to the present owner.

Einstein's much-loved and much-worn cardigan. The cardigan is visible in many photographs of Einstein from c.1934 onwards – including notably a group of photographs showing him with the suspected Russian spy Margarita Konenkova. Along with his famous Levi-Strauss leather jacket (sold at Christie's, 13 July 2016, lot 149), the cardigan seems to have formed part of the suite of clothing purchased by Einstein during his early years in the USA, which led to him adopting the strikingly dressed-down style of his last two decades – in a number of vacation images he can be seen wearing the cardigan without a shirt. A. Sulka & Company was founded in New York City in 1893, and established on Fifth Avenue, as well as London and Paris, by the 1920s. It was a notably up-market brand, reportedly patronised by the Duke of Windsor and Clark Gable.

Special Notice

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